Reviews and Quotes A portion from an article at the Las Vegas Sun ...Hong’s visit is both inspiring and energizing. “We’re putting so much more life into what we play,” says Stumbaugh, who has played the cello for about five years. “I can hear it and feel it.” The visiting musician reaches down and plucks the violin and bow from the hands of a student, lifting the instrument to the cradle of his chin and shoulder. He strokes full, rich notes that fill the orchestra room at Basic High School. “This is one person on one violin,” concert pianist and guest instructor Alpin Hong says of himself, his voice rising above his own music. “Multiplied by all of you, you know you should be getting a bigger sound.” continued... Read the full article on "Striking a chord with students" here! "Crystalline energy from a firebrand" "Mr. Hong kept the voltage consistently high... His ideas about the works at hand were clear and persuasive." "...remarkable... breadth and coloration" — New York Times “…a tour de force. Hong evoked a kind of Beatlemania when he came on stage....What a showman! What a musician!” — Santa Barbara News Press "Alpin Hong plays everything from Mendelssohn to 'Super Mario' in Gilmore for Kids show" — Kalamazoo Gazette Read the full article on "The Ultimate Special Effect with Alpin Hong" here! [this will open a new window] "Hong has a clear opportunity to do for the classical piano what Yo-Yo Ma did for the cello: make it hip." "The orchestra's ranks swelled for Maurice Ravel's Concerto in G Minor for Piano and Orchestra, with Alpin Hong on piano. Tall, lithe and elegant, Hong attacked the piece with a rare and assured hand. From the crisp clap that kicks off the concerto, Hong, Dunner and the orchestra highlighted the connection between soloist and orchestra, with the piano often underscoring and complimenting the strings and wind instruments at one moment, then thundering over them the next. The piece beautifully juxtaposed a classical sensibility with a jazz intension. Hong was especially brilliant on the melodious second movement, making it sound almost liquid. Then he attacked the third with flair and verve. The entire piece was breathtakingly exciting. After a standing ovation and three curtain calls, Hong returned to perform Sonata for Left Hand Alone by Alexander Scriabin. The piece was composed for pianist Paul Witkenstein, who lost his right hand during World War I. It was a true tour-de-force in which Hong showed his talent and his showmanship." — Idaho Statesman "Alpin Hong: Classical for the iPod generation" — Ocala Star-Banner Read the full article here [this will open a new window] "Pianist Hong will amaze with his 'flying hands' Charm and virtuosity know no boundaries when Alpin Hong gets behind a piano." — The Northwestern "Stunning debut recital by Hong" "Scarlatti. Brahms. Debussy. Stravinsky. Listening to the debut recital on CD by Los Angeles-born, Juilliard-educated Alpin Hong, an interesting picture came to my mind. I visualized the sort of feat a master juggler will sometimes set for himself, keeping four objects of dissimilar weight, shape, and texture - say, a rubber ball, an Indian club, a pineapple, and a bowling ball - in motion all at once. Without deciding which of our famous composers is going to play the role of the pineapple, I will say that Hong's range of interests as a young concert artist on the rise is likewise impressive. — Atlanta Audio Society - January 2005 Read the full article here [this will open a new window]
The zesty and nostalgic urban aura of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue seems tailor-made for Hong's combination of rhythmic gusto, affection and gleeful attack." "[Alpin Hong] offers vibrantly etched performances... He casts a keen ear for textural clarity and structure on Bach's Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue, even within lavish sonorities that bask in the concert grand's many-splendoured possibilities... To Mendelssohn's Rondo capriccioso Hong applies the nimblest of touch, finding the lilting and brilliant qualities in the scampering material, while also lingering sensitively in poetic passages... He shapes Mendelssohn's On Wings of Song with utmost attention to lyrical tenderness... he treats Ginastera's Danzas Argentinas with equal degrees of fierce bravura and finesse." — Gramophone "...highly improvisational... articulate and sensual... [Hong] manages to punch and to coax enough multifarious colors from his instrument to engage and to seduce our feet to tapping and our heads nodding in sympathetic, stride rhythm. An auspicious CD debut, Mr. Hong." — Audiophile Audition - Gary Lemco Read the full article here [this will open a new window]
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